Escape From Reality
Escape From Reality is the first book of Minecraftia: Volume 8. It was published on November 13, 2019. Synopsis 3 months after being sent to Minecraftia and the death and disappearance of two of their friends, Ellie and her group are out mining when they discover another group who've heard rumors about how to go home to the real world. Plot Chapter 1: How It All Started I woke up in the absolute middle of no where. The terrain was made of... blocks? The last thing I remember was playing on Minecraft in my room. Holy shit, am I dreaming? I'm not... in the game? Am I? It's the middle of the night and I have no idea if anyone else is here. I look around and eventually notice my friends Brian and Roger. They're just as confused as I am. I wave at them. "Ellie? Where the fuck are we?" Roger asked. I shrugged my shoulders. I looked over and saw a group of... mobs. They were headed towards us. "What do we do?" Brian exclaimed. I looked through my inventory, eventually finding my bow. I aimed it at the zombie and shot it. "There are way too many of them! Let's find somewhere safe!" I yelled. Brian and Roger followed me to the river. Juliet, Dwight, and Clark were there. "Ellie? What the hell is going on?" Clark asked. "Not a clue," I replied. "I just... last I remembered we were playing this game with..." "Holy shit," Roger said. "Where are Kiera, Rachel, and Sarah Lee? They were playing with us, and now..." We heard a loud "What is going on?" and ran in the direction it came from. Kiera, Rachel, and Sarah Lee were all on top of a mountain struggling to fend off mobs. "Guys! Wait up! We're going to help you!" Brian yelled. Brian started to climb up the mountain, but was knocked off by a creeper explosion. "Ellie, go up there and get them. Take this," Dwight told me, handing me his crossbow. "Thanks. C'mon, Brian, we gotta get them," I said. Brian and I climbed up the mountain, noticing Kiera, Rachel, and Sarah Lee failing to fend off the mobs. "Guys! Come here!" Brian yelled. Kiera and Rachel ran over to us. "Saved our asses," Rachel said. "Yeah, thanks," Kiera smiled. We noticed Sarah Lee who was being cornered by about ten mobs. "Rachel! Help her! We'll get Kiera down!" Brian commanded Rachel. Rachel ran to help Sarah Lee, fighting off mobs, but the skeletons got the upper hand and started to shoot at her, knocking her back and forth. "Shit!" I exclaimed. I ran over to help them, but it was too late. Rachel was dead. "There are too many of them!" Sarah Lee said. I started to fight them, though I was quickly becoming weaker. "Sarah Lee, jump down the mountain and find a safe place to hide until morning," I told her. I gave her a firework. "In the morning, fire this and we'll come and get you. It's not safe for you with all these mobs." "Okay," she replied. Sarah Lee jumped down and I ran back to the others. "Sarah Lee'll be safe. She's gonna hide until morning. We gotta go back," I told Brian. "Alright. I trust you," he replied. Brian and I jumped down to Roger, Juliet, and the others. "Guys! Where's Rachel? And Sarah Lee?" Roger asked. "Rachel's dead. Sarah Lee's hiding," I replied. "What? She's... dead?" Juliet exclaimed. "And you LEFT HER TO HIDE?" "Hey! If you saw how easily they overpowered Rachel, you wouldn't be getting mad!" Brian replied. "You don't understand! I promised to keep her safe! To her-" Juliet yelled. "We all know about your little blood oath! The point is, she's safe! Safer than she would be here right now!" Roger told her. "Look, we should all try to work out what's going on here. We're in a video game, for God's sake, and you're arguing over something that doesn't even matter because SARAH IS SAFE!" Dwight explained. "Look, we'll decide what the fuck to do in the morning when we're not surrounded by things that want to kill us," Clark replied. "Deal?" "Yeah. Let's make a house or something," Brian said. I checked my inventory. I still had everything that was on me before I was sent here. "Guys, check your stuff. I still have everything," I told everyone. Everyone checked their pockets. After everyone chipped in materials, we built a house and placed seven beds inside. First thing we do in the morning is find Sarah Lee. 3 months later, 93 days since arriving at Minecraftia... I had been so busy working on the town that I completely forgot about my journal. Juliet convinced me to start building since Rachel wanted to build a town in the world. I woke up this morning and went to the lake where Keira was fishing. I sat down next to her and we talked shop for a while. "Ellie, you okay? You haven't been the same since Rachel died," she asked. I turned to look at her, wanting to avoid seeming rude and standoffish. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just... worried. It could easily be someone else," I replied. Kiera's eyes narrowed and her eyebrows sank slightly. "Alright... I'm just gonna be honest, I think we should find Sarah Lee," I told her. "It's been three months." "She said she was going to find-" Kiera said. "And if that was her plan, she would've told us," I replied. "She's only 9, Ellie. I think was too excited by the idea and the thought didn't cross her mind," Kiera assured me. "She's safe. She has to be." "And what if she's not? While we're sitting around, she could be dead. Or worse," I continued. Roger approached us. "Hey gals, mind giving us a hand with the crops?" he asked. "Not the time, Roger," Kiera replied. "No, it's okay. I'll help," I told her. I looked at Roger, who had a diamond hoe. "This, friend, is my new hoe. I call 'er "Hoe-se"," Roger smirked. "One, that's a guy's name. Two, you're wasting diamonds on crap!" Kiera exclaimed. "Live a little," Roger suggested. "How about you think about everyone else then?" Kiera asked. "How about you bugger off and mind your own business?" Roger replied. "I thought you were a lady's man," Dwight said as he caught up to Roger. "Uhh, not with those teeth, mate," Roger chuckled at Kiera. "I thought you wanted help," I told him. "Yeah. I do. You coming?" he asked. "Sure," I replied. Chapter 2: Duties I followed Roger and Dwight to the farm on the opposite side of the gate. It wasn't anything special, just enough for all of us to survive. "Get yer hoes, laddies, and let's extend the farm!" Roger exclaimed. Dwight picked up two hoes and passed one to me. "Ellie, you will be working over there, on the carrots," Roger told me. I guess it finally dawned on him that I was assuming the position of leader of this town, judging by his blank expression. "I mean, if you're alright with that," he added. I nodded and walked over to the plot of carrots. Dwight was next to me, harvesting wheat. "If I have to eat nothing but bread for another week straight I'm going to lose my mind," Dwight complained. "Why'd you have Bry working on the pigs? You know he doesn't kill animals. We're never gonna eat a real meal." "I'll talk to him and ask him if he'd rather work on something else," I replied. "You could always munch on a potato instead and quick complaining," Roger told him. "You say that like potatoes are more filling than bread," Dwight replied. "You know they're not, right?" "Will you both shut up and work? I said I'd talk to Brian," I butted in. "Yeah. Thanks, Ellie," Dwight said. Dwight's golden hoe broke. "Should've made a diamond one," Roger smirked. "Yes, because everyone makes a hoe over a sword, am I right? It does wonders when you're trying to kill creepers!" Dwight exclaimed. Dwight left the farm. "Welp, you might wanna talk to Brian. I'm alright over here," Roger told me. "Yeah. I will," I replied. I put my hoe back in the chest and walked over to the gates. I saw Brian inside, feeding the pigs. Juliet and Dwight were with him. "Oh, hey Ell," Juliet smiled. "Had a busy day so far?" "Not really. Went fishing with Kiera and did some farming with Roger," I replied. "Good, you can do something really challenging and help me and Dwight in the mines then," Juliet told me. "In a bit. I need to speak to Brian first," I said. "Alright. We'll be waiting," Juliet smiled. She and Dwight headed towards the trench we dug a few weeks ago. "Everything okay, Ellie?" Brian asked. "Yeah. Are you okay with working somewhere else? I know about your views on... things, and it might be too hard for you to... you know... slaughter the pigs?" I explained to him. "Yeah... that's gonna be a little hard. Who do you think will be good for the job?" Brian replied. "Maybe Clark, when he finishes the wall, of course," I suggested. Brian looked over at Clark, who was using an iron axe to cut down trees. "We need to hit diamond again soon. We're using up too much iron. There's just not enough to go around for all seven of us," Brian told me. "I'm going mining with Juliet and Dwight in a bit," I told him. "I think this should be a group job. The more of us mining, the better," Brian suggested. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I'll let Juliet know," I replied. I walked over to the trench. "Are you ready?" Dwight asked. "Brian said he thinks we should go as a group," I told him. "And just leave the town up for grabs?" Dwight replied. "We haven't seen another person in three months, Dwight. Who's gonna magically come within the hour or two and go all finders keepers?" Juliet explained. "You never know," Dwight told her. I looked over at the town. "I'll go speak to everyone and ask if they'll come," I offered. I walked over to Roger and Kiera who were outside the enchantment room. "So, what are your plans for tonight?" he smirked. "Work," she replied. "Sorry if I'm interrupting, but we're going mining together. All of us. In about ten minutes. I suggest you get everything you want to take with you," I explained. "I'll get my stuff and say goodbye to Wilson," Roger replied. Kiera shot him a confused look. "My pet bat," he elaborated. "And who agreed to this?" Kiera asked. "Me, Brian, Dwight, and Juliet," I replied. "This is a bad idea," Kiera sighed. "Kiera, that thing between your legs, does it bite?" Roger asked. "I'll get my stuff then," Kiera said, giving Roger a dirty look. "That went well," Roger laughed as Kiera stormed off. Brian walked over to us. "I convinced Clark to come, by the way. You guys got everything?" Brian asked. "Nah. Just gonna get it and say goodbye to Wilson," Roger replied. Roger went into the basement. "So... I was wondering... do you think we'll ever find Sarah Lee?" Brian asked me. "It's been three months. Hate to think about what could've happened to her." "We should make that one of our top priorities. We all split up and search everywhere. And I mean everywhere. She's got to be somewhere. Unless..." I shuddered at what I thought of next. "Yeah... She has to be alive..." Brian replied. "I guess we'll find out... One way or another," I told him. Roger came back to the surface. "Fucking zombie nearly killed Wilson. Killed it first, so it's all good," Roger said. "Alright, now, Ellie-" Brian tried to say. "We can't keep calling her "Ellie", it's fucking boring," Roger replied. "I like my name-" I tried to tell him. "Nonsense. From now on, I dub thee "Faith", because I have faith you'll make this town a safe haven, and that you'll find Sarah Lee," Roger explained. "Yes, I heard everything." "Alright, now that everyone has an acceptable name, can we please meet up with Dwight at the trench?" I sighed. "Yeah, sure, let's go," Roger smiled. The three of us walked over to the trench where Dwight and the others were waiting. "Ellie, are we all ready?" Dwight asked. "I think so," I replied. Everyone followed as I walked down the staircase into the trench. Although we didn't know it at the time, this would be our last view of our town in almost three years. Chapter 3: Lily of the Valley Roger was the last to enter the cave system. We had been exploring underground for around two hours and had surprisingly found a lot of stuff. Roger said he found two stacks of gold, though none of us believed him. "Yo, Juliet, would you come here a sec?" Roger asked. Juliet walked backwards over to Roger. I didn't really pay much to what they were talking about, but I did see him give Juliet an object, though I couldn't make out what it was. "Remember to keep your eyes peeled," Roger said to us all. "Technically peeling your eyes would blind you," Kiera smirked. "Will you bloody piss off, you little brainiac?" Roger told her. "Hey Roger, what did you give to Juliet?" Clark asked. "Nothing of your interest," Roger replied. "Unless you plan on decorating the town wall with flowers." "A flower, huh?" I said. "Yeah. Lily of the valley. Symbolises the return of happiness," he replied. "Happiness, love. It's also poisonous. Could imply the more love you experience, the higher chance you have of, catching something?" "You sound like my English teacher," Clark laughed. Roger looked over at a wall. "Yo! Ell- Faith! Diamonds!" he exclaimed. He ran off in the direction of the wall. I shrugged my shoulders. "Should we follow him?" I asked. "Someone's gotta tell him the bad news," Dwight replied. "FUCK!" we heard Roger shout. "Never mind," Dwight said. We ran over to Roger, who had chucked his pickaxe on the ground and was now stomping on it. "IT'S FUCKING LAPIS!" he yelled. "Jesus Christ, calm down," Dwight replied. "Unless you want every mob and person in the world to hear you." Roger was breathing heavily now. I noticed him stop and stare in front of him. "You okay?" I asked. "What the fuck is that?" Roger replied, pointing in front of him. Brian ran over. "What's going on?" he asked. Roger walked in the direction he was staring at. I followed him and noticed a train track leading to a dead end. There were several diamonds and a crafting table. "Roger! Be careful!" Brian yelled at him. I listened carefully as I heard a familiar noise. It sounded like lava flowing. "It's a trap!" I yelled as he started to mine the diamonds. "What?" he asked. "Do you hear that? Lava! It's gonna pour in as soon as you mine it!" I replied. "Don't worry. I'll just be extra careful," Roger told me, smirking. Roger started to mine the diamonds, but nothing happened. "Pfft. "Trap" my arse," Roger chuckled. He pulled out his axe and jumped on top of the crafting table to mine it, before falling into a hole. Then we heard a scream. "ROGER!" Brian and I yelled together. We both ran over to the hole and looked down. Roger had fell into lava. I immediately got out a water bucket and poured it down. "YOU BASTARD! YOU MOTHERFUCKING BASTARD!" Roger yelled as he climbed over to us. We helped Roger climb up to us. "I was fucking abused... Someone's in this fucking cave with us..." he panted. "And whoever is here with us isn't friendly, I assume," Brian replied. "No shit, Brainy Brian," Roger said. "Well, we should get out of the cave. It's not safe for us here," I told them. "I hope you're joking," Roger replied. "How are we supposed to find our way back home?" "You have the map," Brian told him. "Right, right. I'm sorry you fell into lava, by the way, Roger," Roger replied. Roger reached into his inventory. "Weird. I put it right here," he said. Roger continued to search for another fifteen seconds. "Well, this is awkward," he told me. "I must have dropped it in the lava." "You what?" Brian asked. "I dropped it in the fucking lava!" Roger exclaimed. "Welp, we're fucked," I replied. The others walked over to us. "The hell was all that screaming?" Dwight asked. "Roger fell into lava because of a booby trap. Ellie suggested we get out while we still can, but we can't because Roger dropped the map into the lava," Brian summarised. "Well that's just fucking great," Kiera sighed. "What do we do now? Hope whoever's here is either dead, actually friendly, or will suddenly have a change of heart and help us out?" Dwight asked. "We find a way out. Get the stuff to make a new map," I replied. "Ah, yes, let me just pull out the paper I thought was useful enough to bring with me," Roger said. "We don't need a map. All we need is a compass," Dwight told him. "Do you mind pissing off?" Roger exclaimed. "If you'd rather stay in this cave and be maimed, killed, tortured, or even eaten, be my guest," Dwight replied. "We better go then," I said. Dwight pulled out his compass. It was pointing south. "Alright, that's where we're going," I announced, pointing south. "C'mon, then. No time to waste!" Brian exclaimed. "Not so fast," a voice said. "Not funny, Clark," Roger sighed. "Not Clark," it said. "Dwight, then!" Roger yelled. "I'm right here, you idiot," Dwight replied. "Drop your weapons. Now," it said. We all dropped our weapons to the floor. Chapter 4: New Faces "Who do you work for, huh?" he asked. I turned around. "We don't work for anyone," I replied. "Is that so?" he laughed. "I'm not stupid. You never find lone survivors these days. You're part of a group." "We are a group. We work for ourselves," Brian told him. "We're trying to build a town, and we've been through hell trying to create a safe haven." "Yeah. So fuck back off to wherever you came from. Like you said, you never find lone survivors these days," Clark told him. "Look, I don't wanna hurt you people. My people... we're fighting for a similar cause. Our leader, Kurt, he thinks he knows how to go home," the man explained. "I'm Brett, and I'm not gonna hurt you." "Yeah, right. I know how these situations go," Clark replied. "Clark, just stop. He's not gonna hurt us," I told him. "Like hell he isn't!" Clark exclaimed. "Listen, we don't trust you, and I'm sure you don't trust us. Just fuck off, and we'll all make it out of here alive," Roger told him. Clark picked up his bow and pointed it at Brett. "Alright. You've made your point. Feel free to walk on, but you're missing out on something great here," Brett told us all. Brett started to walk away. "Wait," Clark said. Brett turned around. "No. You'll just come back looking for us," Clark growled. Clark released an arrow right into Brett's head, killing him instantly. "YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" Roger yelled. "He was gonna kill us!" Clark exclaimed. "HE SAID HE HAS A GROUP! WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY FIND US?" Juliet screamed. "It won't take long," another voice said. Clark aimed his bow at him. "Fuck you, Clark," Dwight said as he grabbed Clark and pried the bow from his hands. "He was gonna shoot!" Clark yelled. "He was clearly threatening you," the voice said. I turned around and saw two men. One was staring in shock at the pile of inventory on the floor and the other was eyeing Clark. "Which of you is the leader?" the man eyeing Clark asked. "I am," I replied. He turned to look me. "I'm Kurt. This is Sterling. The guy you just killed is- was, Brett," he said. "HE JUST FUCKING SHOT HIM!" Sterling yelled. "Brett was threatening them, Sterling! Classic fucking Brett," Kurt sighed. "He said something about you knowing how to get home?" Juliet asked. Kurt turned to look at her. "We've had theories. Pete and Gad are the brains behind most of them," Kurt replied. "You seriously don't care you just lost someone?" Brian asked. "I... care... but... I was never too close with Brett," Kurt replied. "HE FUCKING SHOT HIM!" Sterling yelled even louder, pointing at Clark while looking at Kurt. "Sterling, it was in self defense," Kurt replied. Kurt walked over to me. "We have a base. Not too far away from here. If you wanna... come back with us, we could tell you all about some of our theories," Kurt explained. "Hell no," Clark told him. "Right. Have fun making your way back home by yourself," Roger replied. Everyone started to walk with Kurt, except for myself and Clark. "Well, c'mon then, Ellie," he said to me. "You're not coming with us?" I asked. Clark sighed. "For fuck's sake," he said. We both caught up with the others. "How many you got in your group?" Kiera asked. "Seven, formerly eight," he replied. "So this shouldn't be too much trouble?" Brian smiled. "No, not at all," Kurt told him. "Okay. I just don't want to overstay my welcome," Brian replied. "It's fine. Really," Kurt said. We eventually left the cave. It was now well into night time. The moon was at its peak in the sky. "Well, would you look at that?" Kurt smiled. I stood with him at the top of the mountain. It was overlooking the biggest city I had ever seen. It was lit up with many people in the streets. I looked at the birch sign that had been placed at the peak. THE FALLS WELCOME TO OUR CITY. THE END IS NOT NEAR. "You see that?" Kurt asked. "The Falls is like a true New Eden. We pass through quite a lot." "Really?" I asked. "It looks beautiful. I hope we can make something like that one day." "Don't worry, Ellie. That's all in the past. Once we go home, we'll forget all about this "The Falls" and a new frontier and what not, because we'll have freedom. We won't have to worry about being blown to smithereenes every single night," Kurt explained to me. "You're really confident that these people know how to get there," I told him. "I believe in my people, Ellie. Pete and Gad are fucking geniuses. They'll find a way," Kurt replied. Chapter 5: Kurt's Theory We made it to Kurt's base. Inside were five people, so he was telling the truth about his group's numbers. It was built into the mountains and was lit up with glowstone and torches. Bookshelves and chests filled the space as well as a few crafting tables and furnaces. "Welcome home," Sterling said. "Who are the newbies?" a guy asked. "Jesus, this is Ellie. And here are her friends. Brian, Roger, we have a Dwight here, a Juliet, a Kiera, and a Clark," Kurt replied. "Where's Brett?" another guy asked. Kurt glared at Sterling. "He didn't make it. The mobs got him," Kurt replied. "Fuck," he said. "Don't worry, Sebastian. No one else has to die," Kurt promised him. "You said that when we lost Jorge," Sebastian replied. "Anyway, Ellie, why don't you go talk to Sterling, Pete, and Gad? They'll tell you all about their notes and theories," Kurt told me. "I'll go with her," Roger replied. Roger and I walked over to the trio sitting down at the fire. "Hello. Take a seat, have a cup of tea, whatever you like," Sterling said. Roger and I sat down. "The Enderdragon? Really?" Sterling asked. "It makes sense!" Pete exclaimed. "It's fucking ridiculous. You think killing a magical dragon is the key to going home?" Gad asked. "Kurt partnered me with you because he said you had brains." "I do! Think about it! In Minecraft, when you kill the dragon, the spirits speak to you. It seems like it's the end of the game, right?" Pete asked. "Well, what if it actually is? We kill the dragon and the spirits take us back home." "That's actually not a bad theory," I told him. "You're probably one of those nutcases who think if you die in a lucid dream you die in real life," Gad replied. "Maybe living here's not so bad," Roger said. "No uni, no work, no shit." "Ah, yes, because things that want to kill you are much better," Gad replied. "Guys! We have a problem!" Kurt exclaimed. "What?" Sterling asked. "Pillagers are attacking. We need to get out of here, find somewhere else for the night," Kurt replied. "Where the hell are we gonna go?" Pete asked. "There's a village near here. We should go!" Kurt replied. "What about that city over there?" Roger asked. "We passed it hours ago," Kurt replied. "We have stone and iron tools, no thanks to Roger over there with his diamond hoe fetish," Kiera told him. "How are we going to fight in case-" Kurt gave us seven diamond swords. "I wish we had enough to give you armor, but diamonds are hard to come by," he said. We all left the base and headed outside to where the pillagers were. "The village is to your left!" Kurt yelled at me as he killed a pillager that was attacking him. "What about you?" I asked. "Go! I'll catch up!" he yelled. Kurt killed another pillager. The rest of us ran left towards the village. "I'm fucking sick of running by now!" Roger exclaimed. "You're not the only one, but I'd rather be running than dead!" Brian replied. "Shut up so we don't die!" Dwight said. We ran until we found the village, about ten minutes later. The pillager temple was about one hundred blocks away. "Welp, we're fucked either way," Roger said. "Let's just hope Kurt made it out," Sterling replied. "He'll be fine," Dwight said. I sat down on the bench near the well. "You okay, Ellie?" Brian asked. "Yeah. Just tired," I replied. "What are you writing in?" Clark asked. "My journal. I wanna document everything so we don't forget it," I replied. "So a diary?" Juliet asked. "Sure," I said. "So, who are you?" Roger asked the girl standing next to him. "Mariana," she replied. Sterling coughed loudly. "What? Just making conversation!" Roger exclaimed. "Not that. Look," Sterling replied, pointing at the Pillager temple. Several pillagers were headed for the village. "Don't worry. The Iron Golem will take care of them," Dwight told him. We watched as the pillagers overpowered the Iron Golem and killed it. "Never mind," he sighed. Chapter 6: Protecting The Turf I took out two of the invading Pillagers while Sterling and Roger took out some more. Dwight shot a witch with a crossbow he had stolen from a Pillager, Clark killed an Evoker, and Juliet, Kiera, and Gad worked together to kill the Ravager. "Fuck, that was... get fucked... Jesus Christ..." Roger panted. "I thought raids could only be triggered by the Bad Omen effect," Brian stated. "Yeah... about that," a voice said. I turned around and saw Kurt. "Jesus! It's... it's good to see you, man," Sterling exclaimed. "C'mon, let's head somewhere safe," Kurt said. We kept on walking until we eventually found a Woodland Mansion. It looked like it had been abandoned months ago so we went inside. Unfortunately, every chest had been picked clean. We all sat around a fireplace, eating bread we had made from wheat that had not been taken and talking. "Do you really think this is the way home?" Kurt asked Gad for the millionth time. "It's gotta be. It makes sense," Gad replied. "It's worth a try," Brian said. "What are we supposed to do? Kill Endermen while hoping they don't kill us? Hope we find a Wandering Trader along the way? Let's face it, it's out of the question," Roger explained. "I don't think it is," Kurt said. "It's not too crazy an idea as long as we're careful." "No one got anywhere in life being cynical, Roger," Dwight told Roger. "That's a fucking lie and you know it," Roger replied. "He's not wrong, Dwight," Juliet added. "So it's Roger... and Juliet," Sterling noted. "Roger and Juliet! You two sure look like a match!" "What the fuck does that mean?" Roger asked. "I'm just saying you two look like good friends is all," Sterling laughed. "We can't stay here long. Who knows how long it'll be until someone else passes through," Kurt announced. "One night is the maximum," I said. "We should find more people. If it's just us, our town'll never feel like a real community," Brian suggested. "People are dangerous," Clark replied. "You're in no position to say what's dangerous and what isn't, Clark," Dwight told him. "We should sing campfire songs," Roger said. "You just wanna show off," Kiera told him. "KUMBAYA, MY LORD, KUMBAYA," Roger sang in his deep, raspy voice. "Damn, that actually wasn't that bad," Kurt told him. "He sounded like a dying sheep," Pete laughed. "Can I sample it for my morning alarm?" Juliet smirked. I looked out of the window. "Something wrong, Ellie?" Kiera asked. "We need to find Sarah Lee," I replied. "Who's that?" Kurt inquired. "A girl in our group. She went missing a few months ago," Dwight informed him. "Didn't she have a brother?" Roger asked. "Yeah. Didn't he play the game? What was he called again? Maybe she just went to find him," Dwight suggested. "It was... fuck, I forgot. It started with G, definitely," I replied. "There's a jungle biome north of here. Maybe that's our next stop," Kurt told us as he looked at a map. "Yeah. We'll go in the morning," I said. Chapter 7: Location One It was now the middle of the day. The jungle biome was just a couple hundred blocks away and we had collected one ender pearl the previous night. "How many eyes of ender for an End Portal again?" Roger asked. "Twelve, I think," Brian replied. "Yeah, it's twelve. A little work and we should have enough in a couple of months," Sterling informed us. "A couple of months? Are you joking?" Roger asked. "You have no idea how rare Endermen are, do you?" Sterling replied. "Clearly not. Can't we just look for a Wandering Trader?" Roger asked. "We don't know how long that'll take. It's easier to just hunt Endermen," Kurt replied. "There's some chickens up ahead. Who wants to get some?" Jesus asked. "You guys go ahead," Brian replied as he waited with me. We both watched as the others drew their weapons and hunted the animals. "I have faith in Kurt. I hope he knows what he's talking about," Brian told me. "Me, too," I replied. "It seems too good to be true. I want to think he's a lying bastard. But deep down I have strong faith," Brian explained. Brian fell to the ground as he let out a groan. I jumped out of my skin and noticed an arrow was lodged in his right shoulder. "BRIAN!" I screamed. I turned around and saw a group of Pillagers. "BRIAN!" Roger yelled as he ran over to us. "C'mon guys! Let's take these assholes out!" Sterling yelled. Characters Starring *Ellie *Brian *Roger *Clark *Kiera *Juliet *Dwight Also Starring *Kurt *Sterling *Gad *Sebastian *Mariana *Pete *Jesus *Brett Co-Stars *Rachel *Sarah Lee Deaths *Rachel (Flashback) *Brett *Jorge (Confirmed fate) Trivia *First appearance of Ellie. *First appearance of Brian. *First appearance of Roger. *First appearance of Clark. *First appearance of Kiera. *First appearance of Juliet. *First appearance of Dwight. *First (and last) appearance of Rachel. *First (and last) appearance of Sarah Lee. (Unknown) *This is the first book of the second trial. *A big change has been added to the character list. **Every character from Trial One is no longer listed under any format. **Ellie, Brian, Roger, Dwight, Juliet, Kiera, and Clark are added to the starring section. **Kurt, Sterling, Brett, Sebastian, Gad, Mariana, Jesus, and Pete are added to the also starring section. **Rachel and Sarah Lee are listed under co-stars. *Kurt breaks the fourth wall when he points at The Falls while telling Ellie that it's "in the past", referencing how Gerald-XR-Donovan is done with the first trial's characters and locations. *The Falls makes its final appearance in the series. It appears briefly as Ellie and Kurt look at the view below the mountains.